Accessibility/ADA Compliance/Section 504

For questions on accessibility, or requests for accomodations, please contact Amy Schmidt at (701) 328-7594; or email amschmid@nd.gov.

Regional

VSA arts of North Dakota strives to create and maintain a community where people with disabilities can learn through, participate in, and have access to the arts. Recognizing that every individual has a creative voice that needs to be both expressed and heard, VSA arts of North Dakota provides, promotes, and furthers arts centered activities in inclusive settings so people with and without disabilities can experience the arts together.

Arts and Aging Toolkit. Studies show participatory art education programs for older adults improve participant's physical and emotional health. The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts latest publication, Creativity Matters: The Arts and Aging Toolkit, describes best practices and demonstrates exemplary models for such programs.

Visual Arts Centers for Persons with Disabilities. Lists art centers that provide artists with disabilities the opportunity to learn how to produce art through training by professional artists. Typically, the visual art centers are designed to provide the artist with art studio space to create their work, an opportunity to exhibit their work, and a gallery to sell their work. Some visual art centers offer mainstream or inclusive art experiences, others offer specialized programs for individuals with disabilities.

VSA arts. As an affiliate of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, VSA arts is an international organization that creates learning opportunities through the arts for people with disabilities.

National Summit on Careers in the Arts for People with DisabilitiesVSA arts co-presented the second National Summit on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities at the Kennedy Center the summer of 2009. The summit featured career panels, presentations of new research, working groups, and Millennium Stage Performances from artists with disabilities. As a rare and important networking opportunity for artists and arts administrators across the country, the summit brought together professionals from the arts, education, government, and disability fields to evaluate progress concerning arts education and career opportunities and develop a strategic plan. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration joined VSA arts to organize the summit. Materials from the summit are available at http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/2009NEASummit/papers.html.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness MonthOctober marks National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which focuses on promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In observance of the month, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation calling on "all Americans to celebrate the contributions of individuals with disabilities to our workplaces and communities, and to promote the employment of individuals with disabilities to create a better, more inclusive America." Increasing employment opportunities and career development is one of VSA arts' guiding principles. Please take a moment to view the Campaign for Disability Employment’s “I Can” public service announcement (PSA). It features seven real people – not actors – with hidden and obvious disabilities, demonstrating what they “can do” on the job when given the opportunity. Campaign “I can” PSA: www.whatcanyoudocampaign.org/blog/index.php/video.